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Pakistani Christians
Christianity is the third-largest religion in Pakistan, with the 2023 Census recording over three million Christians, or 1.37% of the total population in Pakistan. About 90 to 95% of Pakistani Christians are Dalits from the Chuhra caste who converted from Hinduism. The province of Punjab has the largest population of Christians in the country. The majority of Pakistan's Christians are members of the Catholic Church or the Church of Pakistan, with the remainder belonging to other Protestant groups. Around 75 percent of Pakistan's Christians are rural Punjabi Christians, while some speak Sindhi and Gujarati, with the remainder being the upper and middle class Goan Christians and Anglo-Indians. Punjabi Christians As Punjabi Christians are mainly Dalit Christians, descendants of lower-caste Hindus who converted during the colonial era in India. Their socio-economic conditions facilitate religious discrimination;. Blasphemy allegations have led to several cases of mob vio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi
St. Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, and is located near the Empress Market in the Saddar locality in central Karachi. The church was completed in 1881, and can accommodate 1,500 worshipers. At the front of the cathedral, there is the Monument to Christ the King, built between 1926 and 1931 to commemorate the Jesuit mission in Sindh. History The first church in Sindh, called St. Patrick’s Church, was built on the grounds of the cathedral in 1845 as a Carmelite mission at a cost of 6,000 rupees under the leadership of Karachi's first Carmelite priest, Father Casaboch. As the Catholic population of the city grew, the city's Catholics raised money for construction of a new church. Groundbreaking was done in 1878, and the church was consecrated on 24 April 1881. Despite the construction of the new building, the little church continued to function until it was destroyed by a storm in 1885. Design The present-day cathedral is buil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. The five solae, five ''solae'' summarize the basic theological beliefs of mainstream Protestantism. Protestants follow the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began in the 16th century with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church from perceived Criticism of the Catholic Church, errors, abuses, and discrepancies. The Reformation began in the Holy Roman Empire in 1517, when Martin Luther published his ''Ninety-five Theses'' as a reaction against abuses in the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, which purported to offer the remission of the Purgatory, temporal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Thomas Christians
The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an Ethnoreligious group, ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala (Malabar region), who, for the most part, employ the East Syriac Rite, Eastern and West Syriac Rite, Western liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity. They trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The Saint Thomas Christians had been historically a part of the hierarchy of the Church of the East but are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodox, Protestantism, Protestant, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions. They are based in Kerala and they speak Malayalam. ''Nasrani'' or Nazarene (title), Nazarene is a Syriac term for Christians, who were among the first converts to Christianity in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas The Apostle
Thomas the Apostle (; , meaning 'the Twin'), also known as Didymus ( 'twin'), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "doubting Thomas" because he initially doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ, resurrection of Jesus when he was told of it (as is related in the Gospel of John); he later confessed his faith ("John 20:28, The lord of me and the God of me") on seeing the places where the Five Holy Wounds, wounds appeared still fresh on the holy body of Jesus after the Crucifixion of Jesus. According to traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians of Tamilakam (modern-day states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala) in India, Thomas travelled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, traveling as far as the modern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in South India, and eventually reached Muziris (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor in Kerala State) in 52. He started the Church of the East in the region around the Van ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonial India
Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during and after the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spice trade, spices. The search for the wealth and prosperity of India led to the colonisation of the Americas after Christopher Columbus went to the Americas in 1492. Only a few years later, near the end of the 15th century, Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama became the first European to re-establish direct trade links with India by being the first to arrive by circumnavigating Africa (). Having arrived in History of Kozhikode, Calicut, which by then was one of the major trading ports of the eastern world, he obtained permission to trade in the city from the Saamoothiri, Saamoothiris (Zamorins). The next to arrive Dutch India, were the Dutch, with their main base in Ceylon. Their expansion into India was halted after their defeat in the Battle of Colachel to the Travancore, Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conversion To Christianity
Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person that brings about changes in what sociologists refer to as the convert's "root reality" including their social behaviors, thinking and ethics. The sociology of religion indicates religious conversion was an important factor in the emergence of civilization and the making of the modern world. Conversion is the most studied aspect of religion by psychologists of religion, but there is still very little actual data available. Christianity is growing rapidly in the global South and East, primarily through conversion. Different methods of conversion have been practiced historically. There is evidence of coercion by secular leaders in the Early and Late Middle Ages, though coercion as a method has never been approved or even supported by any majority of Christian theologians. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies of initiation into their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindus
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent. It is assumed that the term ''"Hindu"'' traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ''. (The term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ'' is mentioned in Rig Veda and refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and to India as a whole.) The Greek cognates of the same terms are "''Indus''" (for the river) and "''India''" (for the land of the river). Likewise the Hebrew cognate ''hōd-dū'' refers to India mentioned in Hebrew BibleEsther 1:1. The term "''Hindu''" also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dalit Christians
The term Dalit Christian or Christian Dalit is used to describe those who have converted to Christianity from other forms of religion in the Indian subcontinent, and are still categorised as Dalits in Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and Sikh societies in South Asia. Hindu Dalits are sometimes referred to as '' Harijans''. About 90 to 95% of Pakistani Christians are Dalits from the Chuhra caste and at least 9% of Indian Christians are Dalits, categorised thus by the greater societal practices in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. Despite their conversion to Christianity, this group often continues to face societal discrimination both within and outside their religious community due to the pervasive influence of the caste system. Although Christian missionaries during the colonial era aimed to dismantle the caste hierarchy within the Church, the traces of caste-based practices persist in some Christian communities today with practices and rituals distinct from other Christians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglo-Indians
Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Anglo-Indian" has also encompassed other European and Indian ancestries. Anglo-Indians' first language is usually English. Prior to 1911, various designations like "Eurasian" or "Indo-Briton" were used to describe this community. The All India Anglo-Indian Association, founded in 1926, has long represented the interests of this ethnic group; it holds that Anglo-Indians are unique in that they are Christians, speak English as their mother tongue, and have a historical link to both the British Isles and the Indian sub-continent. During the period of British rule in India, children born to unions between British fathers and Indian mothers from the 17th century onwards formed the basis of the Anglo-Indian community. This new ethnic group formed a small yet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goan Christians
Goan Catholics () are an ethno-religious community adhering to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church from the Goa state, in the southern part of the Konkan region along the west coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language. Missionary activities followed soon after the Portuguese conquest of Goa. Pope Nicholas V had enacted the Papal bull of ''Romanus Pontifex'' in AD 1455, according to which the patronage of the Christian faith in the East Indies, was granted to the Portuguese crown. Their culture is an amalgam of Konkani and Portuguese cultures, with the latter having a more important role because Goa, Damaon & Diu had been ruled by Portugal from AD 1510–1961. The notion of Goan identity as a distinct culture among other Luso-Asians or Luso-Indian cultures was forged into India after the annexation of Goa and Damaon in 1961. The Goan Catholic diaspora is concentrated in the Persian Gulf countries; the Lusophone world, especially Portugal, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gujarati Language
Gujarati ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Western Rājasthāni, Old Gujarati (). In India, it is one of the 22 Languages with official status in India, scheduled languages of the Union. It is also the official language in the state of Gujarat, as well as an official language in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. As of 2011, Gujarati is the List of languages by number of native speakers in India, 6th most widely spoken language in India by number of native speakers, spoken by 55.5 million speakers which amounts to about 4.5% of the total Indian population. It is the List of languages by number of native speakers, 26th most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers as of 2007.Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in ''Nationalencyklopedin''. Asteri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sindhi Language
Sindhi ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, scheduled language without state-level official status. Sindhi is primarily written in the Perso-Arabic script in Pakistan, while in India, both the Perso-Arabic script and Devanagari are used. Sindhi is a Northwestern Indo-Aryan languages, Northwestern Indo-Aryan language, and thus related to, but not mutually intelligible with, Saraiki language, Saraiki and Punjabi language, Punjabi. Sindhi has several regional dialects. The earliest written evidence of modern Sindhi as a language can be found in a translation of the Qur’an into Sindhi dating back to 883 AD. Sindhi was one of the first Indo-Aryan languages to encounter influence from Persian language, Persian and Arabic following the Umayyad campaigns in India, Umayyad conquest in 712 AD. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
